Over this past weekend I donated my time acted as AD on a friend’s short film.  On this short our main actor was a 5 year old boy and as you can imagine things didn’t go exactly as planned.

Now if you have never shot with younger children then you better learn quickly that you need a whole lot of patience to get through the shoot.  Nothing will go as you planned because little kids are spontaneous and don’t always do what you want them to do.

After this weekend I have to say I have so much respect for the people that worked on The Little Rascals back in 1994.  The Director Penelope Spheeris has been quoted saying that the most difficult part about making The Little Rascals was working with the younger kids to get them to say their lines properly.  Penelope, after my short shoot this weekend I seriously feel your pain : )

So here is what I have learned from this weekend:  When shooting with young children ALWAYS plan more days and more time than you need.  Be patient, because they are just kids and most importantly have fun with them because the more fun they have the better their performances will be.